Marine-engine governor or controller



S. J. SANFORD. MARINE ENGiNE GOVERNOR 0R CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- !9, 19H}- Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I S. SANFORD. MARINE ENGINE GOVERNOR 0R CONTROLLER. APPLICATION man JAN. 19, 1918.

1,366,595. Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

a 61/ a F7G 4.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SYDNEY J. SANFORD, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

MARINE-ENGINE GOVERNOR 01% CONTROLLER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, SYDNEY J. SANFORD, a citizen of Canada, and a resident of Los Angeles. in the county 01' Los Angeles, State of California, United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Maline-Engine Governors or Controllers, of which the following is a specification.

Objects of the present invention are to provide simple, reliable and efiicient means for preventing the propeller from racing when it comes out of the water in a heavy sea and to control the engine from the-bridge in such manner that an oiiicer in chargev in an emergency can handle it by the movement of a switch which will automatically slow up. stop or reverse without the intervention of the engineer.

' The invention will he claimed at the end hereof, but will be first described'in connection with the embodiment of it chosen for illustration in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1, is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of mechanism embodying features of, the invention,

Fig. 2. is a diagrammatic view, partly in section. illustrating a modification of one of the parts and also illustrating diagrammaticallv the circuit connections.

Fig. ,3, is a sectional view drawn to an enlarged scale and takenthrough the/fixed and bridge contacts, and V Fig. 4. is a plan view also drawn to an enlarged scale, of a POItlOlLOf the bridge element.

Inthe drawings 1, is a source of current and there is an advantage in the use of alternating current as will appear from the fol lowing description in connection with cer tain plates between which current passes through the sea water andf'which, it direct current were employed, would be subject to electrolysis. There is a solenoid 2, the corebar 3 of which-is adapted to control the engine gear. T he type of engine controlled'by the core-bar 3 is not important, but in the drawings I have illustrated parts of a reciprocating engine controlled by a link valve-gear 4, through the intervention of a pilot engine 5, the valve of which is operated from the core-bar 3 by a bell crank 6 and link 7, and from this illustration those skilled in the art will understand that from the core-bar 3 the control gear of a turbine or Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J an 25, 1921 Application filed January 19, 1918.

Serial No. 212795.

of'an electric transmission connected therewith can be effected without requiring further illustration or description.

The solenoid'2 isprovided with windings, each connerted to one pole of the source'as by the conductor 8, provided with branches to each of them, and these windings are arranged in opposed pairs which are marked a, a. 5, b 2, c and (Z, (Z the intermediate winding being marked 6. T here are switch contacts in forward and reverse sets; those in one set, for example the forward or ahead set, are marked a 6 c and (Z and those in the reverse setare marked a Zr, 0 and. (i The same letters are used because ofthe re lation between these contacts and the wind ings of corresponding letter. Connections from the other pole of the sour e 1 extend to a switch contact in each set and from thence to the windings of opposed pairs of windings. The connection a by branches a and 0, extends to one or" the separated conductors constituting the switch contacts a? and a and from the other of the separated conductors by conductors a and a to the windings a, a The connection; I) by branches 5? of the separated conductors constituting the switch contacts Z2 and b and from the other of the separated conductors by conductors and 7)? to the windings 5, b

and from the other of the separated conduc tors by con ductors 6Z9 and (P to thecwin-d in gs d, [2 The winding 6 is connected by; a conductor 9 through a; rheostat 10 to one pole ofthe' source 1,

There are means "by which the connections a", b", c and (Z are appropriately connected in the circuit. An example of these means are plates or electrodes A, B, G, D and P, of which one P, i's connected to one pole of the source 1, and which are arranged at different levels near the propeller andadapted for emersion and submersion in the sea water to complete the circuit. When they areall submerged the circuit is as has been described, but when some of them are emerged and I) extend to one 'stantly magnetized will they are no longer in the circuit nor are the windings to which they are connected. 11, is a bridge element having, as shown, three main positions and it is operated by a handle, accessible from the bridge, I

In'the following description of the mode of operation it will be assumed that the plates or electrodes A, B, C, D, and l are present and that both functions of the invention are available. However, it'may be remarked that in the case of the equipment of a vessel already in service the installation of the plates may be postponed until a convenient time, in which time they are replaced by a solid conductor, and in the mean time the advantage oi. the function of the control of the engine from the bridge will be attained but not that of automatic prevention of engine racing. Of course the various wires or conductors making up the circuit connections may be arranged in the form of a cable and passed through the wall of the ship at one convenient place, as 13 in Fig. l, and in Fig. 2, the solenoid is in effect made double and is provided with two cores 3 and 8 connected together and the windings are merely duplicated and hence it is unnecessaryto cloud the drawing by additionally lettering the duplicate windings.

Since the winding 6 is always in circuit it tends to retract and centralize the core-bars and it also keeps them constantly energized, which is obviously a matter of advantage in some cases, because the cores being conrespond more quickly to the pull of the magnetization of an additional coil or coils than they would do if they were not constantly energized, and the rheostat serves to adjust the branch containing the winding 6 in respect to the resistance of the water in its efiect upon the passage of current between the plates 1%,.

B, C, D, and P. When all of these plates are submerged and all of. the circuits are broken at the switch contacts, for example,

- by positioning the bridge element 11 intermediate of them, the core-bars are in central control-gear is positioned to stop the propeller; It the officer in charge of the bridge I shifts the bridge element 11 counter-clockthus bringing into circuit the windings to wise from intermediate position the result is to bridge the contacts d 0 b and a which these contacts are connected, one after another, thus shifting the effective "field of the solenoidand causing the core-bars to move toward the leftln the drawing, which movement is assumed to produce progressive ahead motion of the propeller. A return'of the bridge element to its middle' position similarly cuts out these windings succesposition.

sively and so shifts the field of the solenoid producing movement of the core-bar which operates on the engine control gear to slow down and finally stop the propeller, which it does when the bridge element is in middle Movement of the bridge element toward the right similarly operates upon the windings a 6 o and (Z shifting the field of the solenoid and bringing about the same control of the propeller but in the reverse direction. No matter what. the position of the bridge element may be so long as it is bridging contacts, it the plates or some of them D, C, B,A, emerge "from the water, those windings which are connected to them are cut out ofthe circuit thus causing shitting of the solenoid field appropriate for working the engine control gear to prevent the propeller from racin To. operate in the manner described, the bridge element 11, is provided with a series of bridge strips or contacts 11 insulated from it and from each other and adapted to span the contacts in pairs.

-t will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates that modifications may be made in details of construction and arrangement without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is not limited as to those matters or'otherwise than 'as the prior state of the art and the appole of the source and of which some are mate opposed windings and of which one is an intermediate winding and is always in circuit to centralize the bar and stop the'engine, a stop and ahead and reverse three-position switch having multiple mate-contacts for forward and reverse, a circuit connection from one pole of the source through mate-switch contacts to individual matccoils, and-spaced plates adapted for successive emergence and submersion and of which 2. In apparatus ofthe classdescribed the combination of a source of current,.a solenoid core-bar adapted-to actuate the marine engine control gear, a plurality of windings for said bar connected, to one pole of the v source and off which some are mate opposed windings and of whichqone is an interme--.

diate winding and. isalways in circuit to centralize the bar and stop the engine, a

stop and ahead and'reverse three-position switch having multiple mate-contacts for forward and reverse, and circuit connections from the last mentioned contacts to the op posed mate-windings.

3. A marine engine governor and controller comprising the combination of a source of current, a solenoid having windings each connected to one pole of the source and arranged in opposed pairs and adapted to control the engine gear, switch contacts in forward and reverse sets, connections from the other pole of the source to a switch contact in each set and from thence to the windings of opposed pairs of windings, a bridge element for the switch contacts and spaced 7 plates adapted for successive emergence and submersion of which some are connected with a switch contact in each set and of which one is connected to the source.

4:. A marine engine governor and controller comprising the combination of a source of current, a solenoid having a normally retracted core-bar and having an intermediate winding and other windings each connected to one pole of the source and arranged in opposed pairs and. adapted to control the engine gear, connections including arheostat for permanently energizing the intermediate winding of the solenoid, switch contacts in forward and reverse sets, connections from the other pole of the source to a switch contact in each set and from there to the windings of opposed pairs of wind ings, a bridge element for the switch contacts, and spaced plates of which some are connected with a switch contact in each set and of which one is connected to the source.

5. In apparatus of the class described the combination of a source of current, a solenoid having a normally retracted core-bar and having windings each connected to one pole of the source and arranged in opposed pairs and adapted to control the engine gear, connections including a rheostat for permanently energizing an intermediate winding of the solenoid, switch contacts in forward and reverse sets, connections from the other pole of the source to a switch contact in each set and from thence to the windings of opposed pairs of windings, and a bridge element for the switch contacts.

6. In apparatus of the class described the combination of a source of current, a solenoid havin windings each connected to one pole of the source and arranged in opposed pairs and adapted to control the engine gear, and electrodes spaced at diflerent levels for successive submersion'and emergenes and of which some are connected to the same pole of the source in series relation to the windings and of which one is connected to the other pole of the source.

SYDNEY J. SANFORD. 

